06.05.2017
QUALIFYING 4th Rd. MotoGP 2017 – Circuito de Jerez (ESP)
Qualifying for the Spanish MotoGP was very productive for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team today with 15th and 16th position for Pol Espargaro and a Bradley Smith aboard their KTM RC16s. It's the best qualifying so far for the Austrian prototype bikes in only the fourth race for KTM in MotoGP, ultimately with times set by both riders just over one second back from pole position. In Moto2 and Moto3 Miguel Oliveira and Nicolo Bulega were the fastest KTM riders in qualifying with both on 4th postion on the grid tomorrow. The first race of Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup 2017 was won by Rory Skinner.
MotoGPQualifying for the Spanish MotoGP was very productive for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team today with 15th and 16th position for
Pol Espargaro and
Bradley Smith aboard their
KTM RC16s. It's the best qualifying so far for the Austrian prototype bikes in only the fourth race for KTM in MotoGP, ultimately with times set by both riders just over one second back from pole position.
Espargaro:
"All the team is doing such a big effort but I want to remember the guys back in the factory who are not on TV, working hard behind the scenes.What we are doing is thanks to them as factory and race team work so hard together to get a result that some people thought would not happen. In FP4 we were 9th, run at the same time of day as the race, but my time was done with a tyre that was not so new so I think this time is quite good for a longer run, but the effort and the things the team is doing is unbelievable."Smith:
"This last week has been a really good step for our project which is a big thanks for everyone involved because there's been a lot of time and effort gone into the upgrades, so a huge thanks to everyone here and at KTM Motorsport in Munderfing, Austria. Here at Jerez, we've had good feelings and made steady progress session by session. We had some fast split times this morning that lit up red on the timing screens, which was a first for us, so everything is going in the right direction. It was very exciting in qualifying to finish the closest we've ever been to the pole, just 1.1 seconds off, so I feel good. We'll make some progress in the warm up to check the final tyre decisions, but overall a fantastic day for KTM."Sebastian Risse (Technical Director MotoGP):
"We've had a very exciting weekend with big technical steps being taken quickly after a very short testing period. Sure, this brings risk into a race weekend but it worked out very well indeed. I think we can be very happy about where we are after this qualifying result - we could see the potential of the riders and the bike throughout the whole weekend. It is an important step forward. Now let's prove this in the race and see what is the next step forward." Moto2In Moto2 the KTM bike again has wowed the paddock and pit lane with a fourth place starting position for
Miguel Oliveira. Team mate
Richard Cardus, who is standing in for the injured
Brad Binder, will start from 18th just 1.2 seconds back from pole position.
Oliveira:
"Thanks to the test we did here in March, we had a good references for the setup and for the KTM, so we have been calmer since the start of the GP weekend. We were practically able to repeat the time set in testing, although today I was only one tenth slower. We are happy, we will start from fourth position and we have a good pace, so tomorrow we will give everything to get a positive result. The objective before starting here was the Top 5, and that continues to be the case although there is no doubt that we will fight for the podium."Moto3Meanwhile in the hugely competitive Moto3 class,
Niccolo Antonelli will start 6th with his team mate
Bo Bendsneyder having problems with a set up that didn't come together (after successful testing here) to start 24th. KTM won the Moto3 race here last year with Brad Binder who not only started the race from the back of the grid, but won his first ever race as he made his way towards winning the Moto3 World Championship. Fastest rider on the
KTM RC250 GP bike in qualifying was
Nicolo Bulega from Sky Racing Team VR46.
Bulega:
"Considering that the start is not one of my strengths, being in the second row is always a big advantage for the race. I'm happy, maybe I could improve my best lap time, but I struggled a bit with chattering and, in my last attempt, I found some traffic. I can not wait to get on the track tomorrow."Antonelli:
"I felt pretty good today. I am happy to have taken this second row here in Jerez, because in the test we did not do too well and now I have been able to improve the time I did then. It has been difficult, but we have succeeded. We knew we had to improve in order to be up at the front in the race, and now I just have to give my all to get the best possible result. I don't know if there will be many riders in the front group, but I hope not. My goal will be to be at the front and finish as high up as I can."Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Rory Skinner and
Ai Ogura were set for an intense final lap in the first Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup race of the season only to have the race stopped with a Red Flag. Though Ogura was leading at the time, the results were taken at the end of lap 14 when Skinner was in front. Hence the 15-year-old Scot stood on top of the podium ahead of two 16-year-old Japanese with
Kazuki Masaki having taken third.
“I had a good rhythm going and had in the back of my mind the thought that I would save the tyres a bit if I could but I didn’t really build a big enough advantage and the gap varied a bit, I made a couple of mistakes and I then knew that Ai was catching. I wasn’t worried because I knew I could go with him after he came past and do something on the last lap. In Rookies Cup you can’t really make a plan but if it had come down to the classic Jerez last corner that would have been OK, ” concluded
Skinner who scored his first Rookies Cup victory to start his third season.
Races: April 23, 2017 – Moto3 11:00 | Moto2 12:20 | MotoGP 14:00 | Red Bull Rookies Cup 15:30 CET
Results Qualifying MotoGP Circuito de Jerez 2017 1. Dani Pedrosa (ESP), Honda, 1:38.249 min
2. Marc Marquez (ESP), Honda, +0.049 sec
3. Cal Crutchlow (GBR), Honda, +0.204
4. Maverick Vinales (ESP), Yamaha, +0.428
5. Andrea Iannone (ITA), Suzuki, +0.495
Other KTM
15. Pol Espargaro (ESP), KTM, +1.03316. Bradley Smith (GBR), KTM, +1.072Results Qualifying Moto2 Circuito de Jerez 20171. Alex Marquez (ESP), Kalex, 1:42.080 min
2. Franco Morbidelli (ITA), Kalex, +0.046 sec
3. Dominique Aegerter (SUI), Suter, +0.232
4. Miguel Oliveira (POR), KTM, +0.329 5. Mattia Pasini (ITA)), Kalex, +0.518
Other KTM
18. Ricard Cardus (ESP), KTM, +1.243
Results Qualifying Moto3 Circuito de Jerez 20171. Jorge Martin (ESP), Honda, 1:46.004 min
2. Aron Canet (ESP), Honda, +0.437 sec
3. Romano Fenati (ITA), Honda, +0.514
4. Nicolo Bulega (ITA), KTM, +0.651
5. Marcos Ramirez (ESP), KTM, +0.696Other KTM6. Niccolo Antonelli (ITA), KTM, +0.753
8. Andrea Migno (ITA), KTM, +0.831
10. Darryn Binder (RSA), KTM, +0.856
24. Bo Bendsneyder (NED), KTM, +1.497
Results/Standings Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup 2017 after 1 of 13 racesAll riders on KTM RC250 RB bikes1. Rory Skinner (GBR), 26:11.605 min, 25 points (14 laps)2. Ai Ogura (JAP), +0.325 sec, 203. Kazuki Masaki (JAP), +2.991, 164. Filip Salac (CZE), +3.014, 13
5. Aleix Viu (ESP), +3.223, 11
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